The global internet is a mass media on par with radio and television. And just like radio and television broadcasting, the content on the Internet is largely supported by advertising, fees. The main advertising supported portion of the Internet is the “World Wide Web” that displays HyperText Mark-Up Language (HTML) documents distributed using the HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP). However, many other types of internet content and applications are advertising supported as well such as email, internet telephony, and internet video content.
Two of the most common types of advertisements on the World Wide Web portion of the Internet are banner advertisements and text link advertisements. Banner advertisements are generally images or animations that are displayed within an Internet web page. Text link advertisements are generally short segments of text that are linked to the advertiser's web site. With either banner advertisements or text link advertisements, the internet advertisement viewer may select the advertisement in order to be re-directed to a web site designated by the advertiser.
Most major interact advertisement systems currently operate using keyword-based methods of internet advertisement selection and placement. Specifically, internet advertisers select particular keywords to be associated with their internet advertisements. Then, when a web viewer enters a particular keyword into a search engine or an advertising-supported web page contains prominent usage of that particular keyword, then internet advertisements that have been designated to be associated with that keyword will be displayed.
While keyword based internet advertisement selection systems provide some advertisement relevance, a keyword-only based system is very limited in its ability to create a comprehensive advertisement/click market. Thus, it would be desirable to expand beyond the current keyword-based internet advertisement systems in order to improve the selection of relevant internet advertisements and create a more comprehensive interact advertising system.